


Wild

by differentjasper



Category: Trolls (2016), Trolls World Tour
Genre: Culture Shock, Gen, Hide and Seek, Interrogation, Minor Swearing, Non-Linear Narrative, Realization, and also maybe for other reasons but that's for later, bc you don't walk away from a conversation w a pop troll without thinking 'wtf' once, but also some of them are gonna be contradictory to each other, don't worry they're fine, from being stuck in a cage and eaten yearly for possibly multiple generations, how do i tag 'canon typical person-eating discussion', interesting habits, just a lil, kind of? i'm gonna try and make sure this is in some kind of order, pop trolls are feral, pop trolls are not ok but no one else knows that, population numbers, they've just got some..., unless you remember they're not an exact series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/differentjasper/pseuds/differentjasper
Summary: It had started out small. Little things.Some of it was Branch.Ok, it was mostly Branch at first. But it wasn't just him.A collection of one-shots about how the pop trolls can be sometimes, through the eyes of trolls who have never interacted with them before the events of TWT and Trollstopia. Tags update with each chapter.
Comments: 71
Kudos: 265





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hbjahgl I'm having too much fun writing these

Barb noticed a couple of things first. It turns out, it is a _very_ bad idea to try and get into pop village quietly, even if it is to avoid a giant pop filled celebration full of earworms that just wouldn't go away.

She had been walking calmly, even peacefully, beatboxing new drum and bass rhythms under her breath to try later. She would never get into beatboxing as much as Prince D, or Tiny Diamond, or even Branch who sometimes would back them up, but it was a neat little tool for when she was away from her instruments.

And then suddenly, _something_ dropped out of the trees above her. She nearly screamed, struggling within the bonds suddenly on her. By the time she realized it was a net and threw it off of herself, she was looking into the tip of a spear.

Behind the spear, someone, who looked like they had just gotten into a fight with a flowerbeast and won, was staring at her. She couldn't read their expression, as it was covered by a bark mask. Only those intense, ice blue eyes.

Then the spear was spun up and planted in the ground. "Oh man, Barb! Sorry about that, didn't realize it was you." The mask was pushed up to reveal... Popsqueak's boyfriend?? Branch stood there, giving her this look like he was trying to smile but was just a little bit too apologetic and uncomfortable.

He held out his hand, and Barb hesitated for a minute before she took it.

"I patrol the woods this time of day," he explained, gesturing at the net behind Barb. "I thought you were some kind of beast coming to eat someone, not a friend."

"Th-- that's ok," Barb said, while internally she was thinking _What the fuck? What the FUCK?!_

"Here, you want me to tell Poppy you're here? I get it, if you're avoiding the party," he kept talking, rolling his eyes at the last comment. "My village can get a little over the top sometimes, but you gotta love them for it, you know?"

Barb nodded silently. She wasn't quite sure which phrase she was agreeing too, but she was honestly a little too scared of Branch right now.

He just smiled a little, and started walking. She decided she didn't want to get mistaken for some creature again, and followed him all the way to pop village.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short comic. Delta is curious about something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized this comic (partially inspired by branchifer on tumblr) fits pretty well with the theme, so I decided to add it in before I put up another one-shot! ^v^ [original post](https://captainunderkrupp.tumblr.com/post/616950059796496384/hey-uhhh-branch-thats-a-little-concerning-i-got)

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try and put proper image transcriptions up soon :)


	3. Why Snack Pack?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hickory discovers that the Pop trolls can be a bit... morbid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hbljhdlgjah i'm sorry this is kind of weird but like... snack pack is a little on the nose isn't it?

Hickory had been considering this for a while. He still wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask, but he supposed it couldn't hurt... "So why are you called the Snack Pack?"

Poppy blushed. "Uh, well... it's kind of funny, actually."

Hickory raised an eyebrow, waiting. 

Almost everyone in the Snack Pack glanced at each other, as if considering what to say.

Cooper finally just blurted it out. "We're called that because someone made a joke that a group of trolls is a snack pack during one of the festivals celebrating escaping Bergentown!"

"Cooper!" Poppy gasped, and Cooper realized he may have been a bit blunt. 

"Oops."

Hickory couldn't help it; he gaped at them. "You called yourselves the Snack Pack because...?" He trailed off. 

Biggie hissed through his teeth and clutched Mr. Dinkles a little closer. Guy looked at the ground, twirling his foot. Satin and Chenille could barely even look at each _other._ Poppy was biting her lip and tugging at her bangs. Smidge was the only one who didn't look incredibly embarrassed, and even she looked like she wanted to take off with how she had her arms folded and was huffing to herself. 

"That's... hilarious!" Everyone's heads snapped to Branch, where he was laughing so hard he could barely speak. "That's... I... that's so _morbid!_ How did you even think that was appropriate?!" Hickory was a bit surprised that Branch didn't know, but then again, hadn't he said something about being relatively new to the group? A few of the pack were confused, because his words seemed like he was lecturing, but he was wiping tears from his eyes while folded in half from laughing. 

Then Poppy started giggling. She couldn't help it, Branch's laugh was adorable and infectious. Cooper started laughing pretty soon after, joined by Biggie, Smidge, the twins, and finally Guy. Even Hickory couldn't help a few snorts. 

Then they were all on the ground laughing, and whenever someone said the words _Snack Pack_ again, they just started all over again, harder than ever. They finally ran out of breath, all just giggling from their spots in the grass.

"Oooh, my stomach hurts," Guy giggled, holding his middle in pain but smiling despite it. Tiny copied his dad, in that adorable way that little trolls learn from their favorite people.

Meanwhile, any non-pop troll who had been close enough to overhear looked... vaguely horrified. Not totally freaked out, because at least the group was laughing? But definitely concerned. 

Hickory knew that he felt the same way. 


	4. the search was difficult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking for Cooper when he was first taken by that bird... was a trial. Prince D wasn't there, but he was told about it. He talks to his brother about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have like 5 more ficlets on this concept in the works just rn... and i have a couple more ideas i haven't started yet O-O   
> but here's a short one!

"Why couldn't you find me?" Cooper asked. It wasn't accusatory, or anything. It was simple curiosity.

Prince D shrugged. "I don't know. We had trackers out. Sometimes people who travel a lot are harder to meet up with, since we're both moving at once."

"I never moved around. I lived in Pop Village my whole life."

"I know," D said, looking deep in thought. "Well, sometimes barriers make it hard to find trolls, or if we didn't search far enough... but Mom and Dad traveled all over the six kingdoms when they couldn't find you..."

Something clicked in Cooper's head. "Wait, what if someone was in the woods?"

Prince D nodded. "That could block trackers a bit. But we went over denser areas pretty closely."

Cooper hissed through his teeth. "Eh, what if a person was very specifically hiding in the woods? Specifically, with a group that moved around a lot for a while before they settled down, in a spot specifically for hiding?"

Prince D squinted. "That sounds... very specific. Also like the perfect storm for blocking tracking."

Cooper sighed. "The Pop trolls spent ages looking for a place to settle. I remember when I was really small, we traveled for what felt like _forever_ before we finally stopped. It was probably only a couple days, but ya know."

Prince D's jaw dropped. "Seriously? No wonder we couldn't find you! First that bird takes you crazy far from where he picked you up, and then you end up with a traveling group??" He paused. "Wait, why were the Pop trolls traveling? I thought they had the troll tree?"

Cooper shook his head. "Nah, they had to move out."

"But why? That was like... the origin of all trolls. It would be crazy difficult to find a reason to get a whole group to leave the home of the ancestors."

Cooper gasped. "I didn't know that! I just knew they had to go away because they were getting eaten a bunch every year. I used to have nightmares about the Bergens they told me about."

Prince D stared at Cooper in shock. "I... have so many questions."


	5. hide and seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delta Dawn agreed to play Hide and Seek, but the Pop Trolls have a slightly different way of playing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just remembered this was sitting in the file I have bc of that one comment (thx BubbleBtch!) about pop trolls _vanishing_ at loud noises! I'm tempted to write that idea too, but have this for now ^v^

Delta Dawn huffed. When she had agreed to play Hide and Seek, she assumed it would be like it always was with Clampers and her friends; finding the youngest trollings easily behind doors and barrels, maybe an older kid on the roof, and a few adults chuckling about trollings hiding in hair. It was easy to find children, since they didn't quite understand that just because they couldn't see you, didn't mean you couldn't see them.

But she couldn't find _any of them._ It was a bit concerning, actually, and she was tempted to call for an end of game to make sure they didn't just leave, or get hurt.

"Why did I agree to stand in for Poppy with the students," she muttered.

At least a few other adults were helping her. But she couldn't find _them,_ either, since Pop trolls are literal children and wanted to play just as much. Apparently it was a popular game with them. Surprising, considering how flashy and colorful they were.

She turned around again, hoping to catch some flash of color. But there was nothing. Not even a giggle.

It was... a little creepy, actually.

She decided to search the bushes again. At least pushing aside leaves felt like she was doing something.

Suddenly, there was a little intake of air right in front of her, an aborted _"eep!"_ She gasped, and started pushing more leaves aside. Were there different rules in Pop hide and seek? Were they allowed to move around? Ugh, she remembered when no one told Clampers that she was supposed to stay in one spot, it was a nightmare looking for a trolling with a biting habit that kept wandering all over town.

And then she spotted a flash of yellow, and glanced toward her feet. A trolling, probably a few years older than Clampers, was crawling away past her legs.

He looked like he was about to cry.

"Y... you caught me..." he whispered, sniffing.

"Aw, sweetheart," she said gently, scooping up the child. She realized he didn't have a leaf stuck to his head for camoflage... his hair _looked_ like a leaf. It was... mildly disturbing, but she had more important things to worry about. "It's ok. It's just me. Now you get to look too!"

She wished she had memorized more names when Poppy had introduced them, the queen had just been so _fast_ about it before she had to attend to other things _._ The trolling Delta didn't know the name of was looking up at her so hopeful. "Really? I don't go in the tag box?"

Delta glanced over at the circle of belongings that all the students had dumped, and realized there was a big space in the middle not because they had all been gathered that way, but on purpose. "Uh. I've never played the game that way before. Trolls who get found get to help look."

The kid looked a lot happier. "Neat! I get to pretend to be a Bergen!" He jumped out of Delta's hands and toward the ground, and his hair finally shifted back, to a more muted color than she remembered being on his head. "Grr, I'm a bergen who doesn't know that we made peace yet."

Delta was... baffled. She had heard some discussion of bergens, but she still hadn't gotten the full story. _No one_ who wasn't a pop troll had. They'd just met the king and queen, and she knew they were ridiculously big and that some trolls were scared of them. (Reasonable. She was constantly nervous she was going to get stepped on while they were visiting.) She wished she had gotten a bit more context about them.

She realized the kid was speaking to her. "Miss Dawn, why didn't you search the trees?"

"Huh?" she asked, berating herself for not paying attention. "What do you mean, kiddo?"

"The trees. Some kids are hiding up there. Almost all of the grown-ups, too. I was wondering why you didn't look up at all." He pointed, almost directly above his head.

She couldn't see anything, but as she moved forward... she saw Harper, hanging like fruit. "Darn!" Harper shouted, and suddenly she was gliding down like she could fly. Delta didn't even see that she was using her hair to hold her up until she was almost to the ground. "Pick, why'd you have to point me out like that?"

Pick giggled. "I get to seek!" he shouted, and ran off and up a tree.

Harper sighed, but grinned. "We almost never play with more than one seeker unless we start with them. This should be fun."

Delta was sure that her face was displaying an inappropriate amount of shock. Her eyes certainly hurt from being so wide. "Y'all... _all'_ a y'all... can use your hair like that?"

"Oh, mostly just the older ones and adults," Harper explained. "This game is good practice for the kids." She looked around, but kept talking. "Can't you?"

"No!" Delta blurted. "The most good my hair can do is look pretty and hold kids!"

"Huh. You never use it?" Harper asked, before snapping out her hair and grabbing a small child out of the head of a flower. He pouted, but when he was set down, he looked around with a devious grin before dashing off himself. "I don't use mine often, but I can't imagine a troll just _not_ using theirs."

"Only Growly Pete can really use his back in Lonesome Flats," Delta admitted, glancing up in the trees where apparently most of the trolls had hidden.

She could hear Clampers growling at someone, and glanced around to make sure she didn't bite someone.

Then the kid who found her _growled back._

Clampers gave a _yipe_ and ran to Delta, immediately jumping into her hair.

 _Well. I suppose that's one way to keep her from biting,_ Delta thought, patting her hair in concern.

The rest of the game went like that, the woods finally having some noise again as the kids started searching for each other. There were a couple more instances of crying, before explanations spread through the whole group. One boy, Keith, kept seemingly appearing in different places every time someone blinked, incredibly quick at moving without being seen.

In fact, there were a lot of kids, and especially adults, with skills like that.

When Queen Poppy finally came back, Delta had quite a few questions...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A step back to during the events of TWT. Barb is still looking for the Queen of Pop, and has a dawning realization about the people she's interrogating... specifically how many there are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii I know I kinda left this one for a _long_ time, oops, but here's a new chapter! :D

"Where's the  _ rest _ of you?" Barb growled, sweeping her arm toward the map behind her. "Don't make this harder on yourselves."

The pop trolls looked at each other. There was a murmur through the crowd, mumbled questions and anxious whispers.

Finally, someone stepped forward. "We... we don't know where the rest of the Snack Pack went, if that's what you mean," she insisted. She was shaking in her overalls, but she seemed determined, brows furrowed as she stared Barb down.

Barb rolled her eyes and quirked one brow. "Who?"

"The Queen's entourage," someone piped up. "Guy Diamond, Smidge, Legsly, Satin and Chenille, those guys."

"Branch, Cooper, and Biggie too, but we haven't seen them in days," someone else called.

Barb frowned in confusion. "What? I'm not looking for specific _ people, _ I don't care," she snapped. "Well. If they're the Queen's entourage, maybe they know where she is-- nevermind. No, I mean your other towns and villages. Where are they?"

Everyone was quiet again.

"...what do you mean?"

Barb hesitated, a sinking feeling in her gut. "Um. I mean the other pop settlements. Where else do you live?"

"There's a bunker outside of town, but only one person lives there," someone called.

"There's an island in the lake, but it's abandoned," someone else added.

"No one lives in the troll tree anymore," the girl at the front of the crowd murmured, looking at her toes.

That hit Barb harder than she thought it would. The troll tree was a place of legend, the original home of all trolls before everyone had to run from the pop takeover. And the pop trolls themselves didn't live there anymore? What  _ happened? _

"So there's... only this village?" Barb murmured in disbelief. Surely that wasn't all there was. It didn't even look like a cultural center like a citystate would normally be. It looked more like the Queen's vacation spot in the middle of the woods, someplace that was all new, simple buildings, low technology, getting back to troll roots, so to say.

The girl shook her head, shrugging. "Only there. That's all of us."

"We didn't even know there were more trolls," someone called. "We thought we were it."

The sinking feeling in Barb's stomach was quickly turning into a rock at the pit. "But... there's barely more than a thousand of you," she whispered, looking around the cage holding, apparently, all the pop trolls currently alive. "Surely this can’t be…  _ it?" _

No one volunteered any more information, all quiet. Too quiet for pop trolls. Everyone else struggled, and even this group had screamed and fought and ran when the tour had descended on them. But here they were, standing quietly, some hugging each other, parents hiding children in their hair.

_ This stadium alone holds a hundred thousand,  _ Barb thought.  _ Volcano Rock City has a population of nearly a million. And there's more towns throughout rock territory. We gathered nearly ten thousand country trolls. There were at least ten thousand in vibe city... Even King Tresillo has two thousand, three thousand subjects. They're telling me they have less trolls than a _ **_subgenre?!_ **

"Excuse me? Ma'am?"

Barb suddenly snapped her head in the small voice's direction, shocked out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

A small, wall eyed troll had stepped to the front of the crowd. He frowned, looking concerned. "Why do you look so scared?"

Barb realized her heart was pounding as the kid spoke. Even as his parents pushed their way to the front and grabbed him, apologizing, Barb stood there, struggling to calm herself.

“Queen Barb?”

She jumped, spinning around to see Riff standing in the doorway. “What?” she snapped.

He frowned, shuffling in place. “Um. We just got a signal. From the yodelers. We figured you would want to see it.”

Barb paused, thinking. “I…” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I. Yeah. Yeah I do,” she grumbled, storming toward the door, shoving her panicked thoughts down.

She was going to think about it...  _ later. _

At least she didn’t have to worry about choosing which pop trolls were going to be in the stadium to watch the final concert, she supposed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is A LOT of headcanons but... I swear there are _so many_ more trolls in the other subgenres than pop... I wonder when barb and the others realize this...  
> I may write more, since I have many thoughts on this subject


End file.
